I have an old family picture of my uncle Jose R. Briseno, who was born in 1920 and lived on the West Side during the 1930s. The photo shows my uncle and two friends at a baseball stadium in San Antonio. The only clues to the era are a Model T in the background and that it looks like empty land behind the stadium. Many have argued it was Mission Stadium, but my uncle was only about 17 or 19 when this photo was taken, and Mission Stadium was not yet built. Others have mentioned Tech Field. Could you or your readers help me identify the stadium?

During your uncle's youth, baseball really was America's national pastime, and San Antonio was wholeheartedly aboard the baseball bandwagon: From April to October, there were almost limitless opportunities to take part in the sport, either as a player or as a spectator at local games.

Besides the city's minor-league team, the Missions, whose playing fields were discussed here last Sunday, there were nearly as many other baseball teams as there were organizations to sponsor them, with multiple leagues and venues. From the 1920s into the '50s, there were Sunday school leagues, high-school and junior-high teams, other youth baseball such as the Optimists' Club's Knothole Gang league, college and even Major League teams in exhibition matches, the Spanish American League and an ever-changing mix of other amateur leagues with teams named for business or nonprofit sponsors.

Some with commercial sponsorships had home fields on company property, and others were based at city parks, school fields or military facilities. The State Hospital club, for instance, might meet the St. Anthony Hotel at the hospital's own field; the Missouri-Pacific Railroad and the Alamo Paint teams could be matched at Brackenridge High School's Eagle Field; or Richter's Bakery vie with Household Furniture at one of Concepcion Park's two diamonds.

Tech Field, discussed here last Sunday as the Missions' home from 1932 to 1947, belonged to the high school now known as Fox Tech, and the professional team had to schedule spring games around the schoolboys' schedule. During the summer, while the Missions were on the road, the field often was used by youth and amateur teams. However, though the time is right, your photo with its rural-looking setting doesn't resemble contemporary views of Tech Field, which was near San Pedro Park, had more bleachers, box seating, a fence and an entrance gate.

As you correctly point out, the ballpark in your photo couldn't have been Mission Stadium, either, since the headquarters of the Texas League team was built in 1947, when your uncle would have been 27 years old.

Since your uncle grew up on the West Side, there's a possibility the ballpark in this picture was Van Daele Stadium, at Brazos and Laredo streets from 1923 to 1957. Covered here Jan. 30, 2011, this was for a time the only ballpark on the West Side, carved out of acreage formerly owned by Belgian-born truck farmer Herman Van Daele. This field was home to a semiprofessional club, the Aztecs, as well as the scene of Spanish American and industrial-league amateur games.

While the players on the field pictured appear to be adults, it's possible this was a game involving the Lanier High School team, a powerhouse squad that won three district championships during the late 1930s. If so, this field might have been somewhere other than San Antonio.

Unfortunately, the team name on the jerseys worn by the players in the background of your photo isn't legible. Tom Shelton, photo curator at the Institute of Texan Cultures library, saw it and ruled out Tech Field but didn't recognize it as any other sports venue represented in the library's extensive collection.

Anyone with information about the field in the picture of young Joe Briseno and friends may contact this column. All replies will be forwarded.

Email Paula Allen at historycolumn@yahoo.com. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/sahistorycolumn.